autumn 2012 - 4-Seasons.de

48
Projects
There is just enough space on top of the Old Man of Hoy to celebrate.
buddies started in May 2011. Stacks refers to the layers of sandtone
making up the pillars of up to 150 metres in height. »The
weather in Scotland usually gets to be the best in May«, explains
Ralf, who lost his heart to the Highlands when studying geology in
Aberdeen. »However, this was not to be the case for us. It was the
worst weather I had ever experienced over there. Stable bad weather,
one could say. Only one day without rain in three and a half
weeks.« So the German Bravehearts only climbed three of the
planned five sea stacks. Those were a league of their own though.
»Go steeper« – the remedy for stress with birds.
Take the 60 meter high Old Man of Stoer in the very far northwest
of Scotland’s mainland. Even when the tide is in, the water
splashes around the cliff. So, that is how you start: clothes off, put
them into a waterproof bag, swim to the foot of the old man while
holding on to the end of the rope. Then you have to fight through a
carpet of seaweed on the way to the cliff island, put your clothes
back on and build a rope bridge so the other climbers can move
hand over hand along it. Next get onto the sandstone which is
nice ly rough due to the salty air and climb up mostly lower seventh-grade
routes (UIAA). You need to secure everything with
climbing nuts and other mobile devices as bolts are frowned upon.
And look for mostly steep routes because if there is no cliff balcony
there are no bird nests. Up and up, soon you are on top! At last
you can dangle your legs over the North Atlantic and be happy. On
the way down, abseil across the overhang cliff while dangling
above the foaming sea like a little flag in the wind.
Sometimes the surge of waves makes it impossible to approach
the sea stack. »We waited for three days on the steep coast of the
Orkney Islands but we could only dream about the sea stack in
front of us«, says Ralf. »We would have had to swim 60 metres but
Ralf Gantzhorn (right) and his climbing buddies.
the wave breakers would have turned us into crab food.« It is not
the first time he has approached such a climbing adventure with a
black humour. During the 1990s, the well-known alpine photographer
managed some first ascents on the Outer Hebrides, approaching
them from a sailing boat. He named them after songs
by Helge Schneider like »Katzenklo« and »Orang Utan Klaus«.
They are still called this way in climbing guides of today.
He definitely wants to go back for the two cliff towers he missed
this time. »Sea stacks have such a fantastic playful character«, he
muses. »When you are a climber and you haven’t climbed a sea
stack yet, you have missed out on the very magical yet perhaps at
the same time absurd side of this kind of sport.«
<
From the Sea Stack to the Book
Sea stacks play an outstanding role
in the new large­format book by Ralf
Gantzhorn and journalist Jan Bertram.
Title: »Schottland – Outdoor­Erlebnis
am Rande Europas«. It is all about
cliff climbing and trekking through the
Highlands, about pleasurable hikes
around the lochs as well as winter
adventures on Ben Nevis. It includes
beautiful pictures, detailed descriptions
and maps. Bergverlag Rother,
227 pages, 49.90 €, Globetrotter order
number 18.46.63. Additionally, the
fourth edition of »Rother­Wanderführer
Schottland« by Ralf Ganzhorn just
came out, incl. 50 tours. 160 pages,
14.90 €, incl. GPS­Tracks, Globetrotter
order number 15.00.82. Both books
available in German.